The Fair Pint Campaign have welcomed today’s Government’s announcement that the Government will consult on the introduction of a adjudicator and a statuary code of practice to regulate the fairness of arrangements between tied publicans and the big pub owning companies.

Publican and Fair pint campaigner Simon Clark responded to the announcement by saying:

"Fair Pint has lobbied long and hard on behalf of hardworking tied landlords who have suffered great hardship over the years.

For far too long tied pub tenants have been abused by big pub owning companies. Many have lost their livelihoods, savings and have lived in fear of losing their home.

Today’s announcement comes after many years of highlighting this unfairness. There is work to be done on the detail and we believe that a free of tie option would be the best way of guaranteeing fairness in tied deals, but this represents genuine progress which will give a boost to publicans and consumers by increasing the viability of local pubs.

Hats off to Vince Cable for taking this on board and giving us a real chance to make a living."

Some in the industry thought that a change of Government might take the heat of the ‘pubcos’, but it is clear that the new Government has the industry on notice and will be prepared to make a reference to the Competition Commission or take legislative action if the industry shows itself to be unwilling to give tied landlords a better deal and the option of freedom from the tie.

In an exclusive interview with the Morning Advertiser Lib Dem licensing spokesman Don Foster said his party would reform the "one-sided" beer tie.

Fair Pint spokesman Steve Corbet said: "The Liberal Democrat’s new policy on the pub sector shows that that there is growing understanding about the damage which tied arrangements are having on the viability of community pub".

A response from the Fair Pint Campaign to the BBPA's; 'UK Pub Industry Framework Code of Practice for Tied Tenanted and Leased Pubs'.Wednesday 11th February

The OFT's decision inevitably provoked wildy differing opinions. The Fair Pint campaign, a group of tenants who have become increasingly vocal about the nasty pubcos such as Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns, declared the decision to be bad for the British pub. The pubcos, meanwhile, breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The tied tenant should be financially no worse off than the free of tie tenant — that is the key finding of the Royal Institute of Chartered Sureyors (RICS).

Karl Harrison of the Fair Pint Campaign said: “It now appears that the RICS, and a leading property lawyer, agree with the Fair Pint Campaign that a rent review should leave the tied tenant no worse off financially than the non-tied tenant.”

A former government minister has heaped praise on the Fair Pint campaign saying it is “having an influence” and “clearly annoying people”.

Labour MP Kate Hoey, a former sports minister, also encouraged disgruntled tenants to speak to their customers about the issues with their pubco. “I’d like to praise the campaign (Fair Pint), they have done really well,” she said. “I’m now getting letters from Enterprise and Punch saying you must meet us. The campaign is having an influence.”

The Fair Pint campaign has welcomed the Campaign for Real Ale’s supercomplaint which highlights how restricted and distorted competition in the market and the operation of the ‘beer tie’ has inflated the price of beer to consumers and made it difficult for tied tenants to make a living from their pubs - but believes that the only way in which the pub sector will be able to secure its long term future is by giving publicans the freedom to adapt to changing customer demands by through the total abolition of ‘ties’. more...

Fair Pint Campaign and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) are calling on the Government and the Royal Bank of Scotland to free the bank’s 1,000 pub estate from tie which means that they are locked into buying beer from their landlords at significantly higher prices that the same beer is available to free of tie publicans and to allow their tenants to buy their pubs by providing mortgages. more...

Commenting on the launch of a new tenancy scheme by Marston’s which offers beer at ‘free of tie prices’ in return for rent increases for some of their tenants, the Fair Pint Campaign have expressed concern that the offer doesn’t include a reform of the way in which rents are calculated and that the scheme will still leave tenants worse off than if they were fully free of tie. more...

Commenting on today’s results from the Enterprise Inns which show that the failure rate of its tied tenants has increased by up to 50 percent on last year’s figures the Fair Pint campaign has said that the company’s problems show the weakness of the ‘pubco’ model and there is now a need for a radical change in the sector to ensure the future sustainability of the pub sector. more...

The Fair Pint campaign have cautiously welcomed the launch of a campaign by CAMRA to change EU law to allow differential amounts of duty to be charged on draught beer, but given that beer duty is paid by producers and importers rather than retailers they have warned that any changes will only help to keep pubs open if the reductions are directly passed on to publicans. more...

Industry leaders and MPs from all three main political parties, including members of the Business and Enterprise Select Committee - joined by tenant’s and trade union representatives - will be attending the Fair Pint summit in the House of Commons tomorrow morning to discuss the changes that are needed to the industry in light of the Select Committee’s report on Pub Companies. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign today welcomed Enterprise Inn’s publication of a letter to Lord Mandelson which admitted that much is wrong with the tenanted pub model and that reform is necessary.

The campaign is, however, unconvinced as to whether Enterprise Inns are willing or able to make reforms which will have any significant effect on the viability of pub tenant’s businesses and the long term future of the sector. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed the decision by NatWest to repay nearly £4,000 in fines taken by Enterprise Inns by direct debit from a lessee for buying beer outside of their tie conditions.

The Fair Pint Campaign have called on other tenants who have been accused of buying out and have and fines taken from them without their approval by direct debit to contact their bank and to seek to reclaim their money.more...

Commenting on reports of the ALMR ‘s attempts to establish an agreement amongst key players in the industry through a process of arbitration, the Fair Pint campaign and the Federation of Small Business (FSB) have said that a negotiated agreement within the industry should not be seen as an alternative to an investigation by the Competition Commission. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign and the Federation of Small Business (FSB) have today launched a national campaign to push for government action to refer the unfair tie between the country’s pubs and the Pub Companies that own them to the Competition Commission.more...

The Fair Pint Campaign have branded Ted Tuppen, Chief Executive of Enterprise Inns, plan to establish a body paid for by company to represent the interests of tenants as an example of the 'pubcos' unbelievable cynicism.more...

The Fair Pint Campaign has congratulated BII Chief Executive, Neil Robertson, on his attempts to introduce a new low cost adjudication scheme for rent disputes but says that he risks failure unless he can secure fundamental changes to the way in which rents are calculated.more...

The Morning Advertiser and The Publican feature a number of reports from the Fair Pint Campaign's Parliamentary Lobby Day on 20th May - highlighting support from Greg Mulholland MP and Shadow Licensing Minister Tobias Ellwood.

Find out more about the Lobby Day, the Business and Enterprise Committee's "daming report on Pubco Power", The Fair Pint Campaign's report, and the stories of individual tenants using the links below:

The London Evening Standard highlights the low average income of tied tenants - most of whom earn less than £15,000 a year - and asks if pubco bosses Ted Tuppen and Giles Thorley would sign up for the same contracts if they ran a pub? more...

The Fair Pint campaign has expressed concerns over emerging evidence about the effect of the Chancellor’s 2% increase in beer duty. Fair Pint fear that the major pubcos are using the duty increase as a means to increase their profits at the expense of publicans and the consumer. more...

Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement in today’s Budget that alcohol duty would be increased by 2% today Fair Pint has pointed out that a duty freeze or a reduction was unlikely to have made any difference to pubs, without an explicit promise that brewers and ‘pubcos’ would pass it on my reducing the prices at which they sell to publicans. more...

On Wednesday 20th May, tied tenants from across the UK will be meeting with their local MPs in the Houses of Parliament to let them know about the pressures they face and asking MPs for their support in bringing about an end to the tie. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed John Grogan’s the tie is a legitimate target for investigation. Mr Grogan has written to CAMRA, suggesting that it should use its position as a Super Complainant under the Enterprise Act 2002, to refer the issue to the Office for Fair Trading if the Business and Enterprise Select Committee suggests an that there is a need for an OFT investigation into the tie. more...

Reports that Punch Taverns is selling more of its pubs to Tesco shows clearly the dishonesty of the British Beer and Pub Association and its 'pubco' clients. Whilst blaming supermarket pricing for the closure of community pubs, Punch Taverns and other ‘pubcos’ are actively working with developers to convert their pubs into supermarkets. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign today accused Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises, which manages the estate for RBS, of charging tied landlords up to 75% more for beers and lagers than they would pay in the open market. The publicans' lobby group said this was outrageous given that these pubs were in effect state-owned. more...

Believing that there is a danger that the largest pubcos won’t be able to meet their future debt obligations as both sales and property values continue to decline, the Fair Pint Campaign has revealed that it intends to use shareholder and bondholder status in Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns to press for change in the pubco model. more...

The Times Business Section reports on the GMB's support for the Fair Pint campaign, and their statement yesterday calling on the Government to "break up the pub company cartels ... driving pubs out of business". more...

The Fair Pint campaign has hit back at the BBPA’s response to a survey undertaken by the GMB Union showing how the tie and the pubco business model has led to the closure of 1,131 pubs since December 2005, due to huge increases in beer prices charged by pubcos over recent years. more...

The Fair Pint campaign has welcomed the publication of the IPPR’s reportPubs and Places: The social value of community Pubs. The report looks at the reasons why so many community pubs are closing - identifying the business model of the pubcos, the tie and the lack of transparency in rent reviews as a factor. more...

Reporting on last month's protests at the headquarters of Enterprise Inns and Punch, the Birmingham Post explores the hardship faced by pubs across the country, and the "storm brewing pub landlords and the pubcos.." more...

Today, the Fair Pint Campaign has commented on Ted Tuppen’s article in this company’s magazine Eagle Eye, which has recently being distributed to Enterprise Tenants. Fair Pint has said that the Enterprise Chief Executive is insulting the intelligence of publicans by urging them to sign up to the BBPA’s Axe the Tax Campaign. more...

Commenting on the recent changes to the senior management at the BBPA and reports about the association’s future plans, the Fair Pint Campaign has said that the body will continue to find it difficult to act as voice for the pub sector unless it is willing to address the damage being caused to the sector by the business models of its ‘pubco’ members. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign is giving its backing to Greg Mulholland MP’s campaign to ensure if the Government decides to reduce beer duty in the budget, these reductions are passed on to publicans and consumers. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed comments from Treasury Minister Angela Eagle and Licensing Minister Gerry Sutcliffe stating that that the tie is a reason for the problems faced by the pub sector and the tied tenancy business model needs to be reconsidered. more...

Under the headline "Anger at beer keg cost con", the Sun's Business section highlights results of the Fair Pint Campaign's survey showing that a keg of Carling costs £110 from Enterprise, compared to the £63 from alternative brewer Coors. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign is calling for tied tenants to benefit from immediate rent reductions, in light of the British Beer and Pub Association's announcement that beer volumes have fallen by more than 9% this year - dramatically affecting pub incomes. more...

The Fair Pint Campaign has welcomed support for their campaign from Tim Martin, Chairman and founder of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain. Speaking in this week's Morning Advertiser, he says the pubco model is "unsustainable" because tenants are charged too much for beer, and that pub companies have "lost control" of their licensees. more...

Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan highlights "how out of touch Punch are", as more than 1/3rd of shareholders at today's annual shareholder meeting rejected "potentially excessive" performance awards at the company - whose share price has fallen 97% since May 2007. more...

The Guardian believes that "good news may lie ahead" for those campaigning to break the pubco tie, citing the City's sense that the Punch and Enterprise business models are "broken", given their focus on "financial engineering" and a model that "restricts the licensee's ability to compete", rather than improving their offer to consumers. more...

BBC2's Money Programme investigates the impact of the pubco tie - with contributions from Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan, and a number of personal 'case studies' from tied tenants, showing the reality of trading under the tie.

The House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee yesterday questioned pubco bosses and trade body leaders, as part of their ongoing inquiry into pub companies. Watch a recording of the session, and read the significant coverage across from across national and trade press - including The Publican and The Morning Advertiser, Evening Standard, Guardian and The Times. more...

The Politics Show's South-of-England team look at the difficulties faced by local pubs up and down the country, and asks what more politicians of every party could do to help? Contributors include Fair Pint campaigner David Morgan, and Shadow Licensing Minister Tobias Ellwood MP. more...

The Morning Advertiser looks at the arguments put forward at last week's hearing of the Business and Enterprise Committee pubco inquiry - including evidence from Fair Pint and the Federation of Small Businesses. more...

The front page of this week's Morning Advertiser reports on the first hearing of the Business and Enterprise Committee's inqury into pubcos - outlining the arguments put forward by the Fair Pint campaign, and highlighting the case studies submitted by Fair Pint supporters across the country. more...

The Financial Times reports on the Fair Pint Campaign's evidence to MPs, as part of the Business and Enterprise Committee's enquiry into pubcos, with the business organisation claiming that rigorous pubcos contracts made it hard for tenants to survive the current economic climate. more...

Members of the Fair Pint campaign are giving evidence to the Business and Enterprise Committee’s inquiry into pubcos today. The inquiry revisits one that their predecessor undertook in 2004, and will investigate how the recommendations have been applied. more...

Steve Corbett, a founding member of the Fair Pint campaign and licensee of the George Canning in South East London, has debated the state of the pub industry and where the pubcos fit into the system with BBPA director of communications Mark Hastings. more...

The difficulties facing pubco tenants are exemplified by an article in this weekend's Financial Times, looking at Fair Pint campaigner Mark Dodds' experience of running tied pub The Sun and Doves in South London.more...

The Fair Pint campaign has written to the Office of Fair Trading, calling on them to investigate the growing disparity between the discount levels that pubcos are able to command from brewers, and those that the pubcos pass on to their tenants. more...

Today's London Evening Standard reports on the Fair Pint campaign's response to proposals by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group for tax cuts on draught beer - claiming that such a move would "do nothing to help the individual pub tenant, but simply prop up a business model which has abused its position and become even more unviable". more...

The All Party Parliamentary Beer Group’s report on community pubs lays the blame at the wrong door. Thousands of pubs are closing around the country, and many more are at breaking point, but a report funded by the chief culprits does nothing to enlighten us. more...

Under the headline "Tenants call time on Punch Taverns", today's Sunday Times reports that almost 20% of the company's tenanted premises are looking for a new licencee, and outlines a tougher time ahead for the pubco business model. more...

The Fair Pint campaign has responded to the claims of Simon Townsend (chief operating officer of Enterprise Inns), where he claimed that he does not believe that the tie has anything to do with the difficulties faced by some pubs, because the model is able to respond to economically challenging times. more...

One year on… is the smoking ban the real reason behind pub closures?Wednesday 2nd July 2008Publicans are in no doubt that the smoking ban has had some impact on their trade. But they will also tell you that it is not the real reason why pub landlords are going out of business. The truth is that the major cause of difficulty for half the pubs in the country is the ‘supply tie’. more...

London Evening Standard business section reports on Parliamentary pubco inquiryThursday 26th June 2008
Today's London Evening Standard highlights the Fair Pint? campaign's success in calling for the Business and Enterprise Committee to investigate the pubco tie.more...

Parliamentary pubco inquiry reported in the Daily TelegraphThursday 26th June 2008
Reporting on yesterday's Business and Enterprise Committee announcement, the paper warns that "the bosses of Britain's biggest pub groups could be called before MPs after a Parliamentary inquiry was launched to investigate whether pub companies have too much power".more...

Fair Pint welcomes new inquiry into PubcosWednesday 25th June 2008
The Fair Pint campaign is delighted that the Business and Enterprise Committee is to review the recommendations that its precursor committee, the Trade and Industry Committee, made in 2004.more...

Fair Pint campaign featured in London Evening StandardTuesday 24th June 2008
The article praises the "well organised" campaign, outlining Fair Pint's concerns about the effect of the tie on individual landlords, the unforseen impact of the 1989 Beer Orders, and how the Trade and Industry Committee's recommendations on pubcos have "more or less (been) ignored".more...

Pubco boss calls MPs "moronic"Friday 6th June 2008
Ted Tuppen, Chief Executive of Enterprise Inns, criticises the 45 MPs who have signed an Early Day motion highlighting the conduct of pubcos.more...

The Fair Pint? campaign welcomes CAMRA’s decision to join the debate on the future relationship between lessees and pubcos, however fundamentally disagrees with their position that the removal of the supply tie is counter-productive and would lead to higher rents. more...

The Fair Pint campaign will be launched in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday 13th May. The campaign is highlighting the plight of UK landlords and consumers who suffer as a result of ‘tied lease agreements’ to pub companies (pubcos). more...

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